Potato-planter



(No Model.)

o. W. PREYER.

PoTATo PLANTBR.

Illllll v, PETERS, FhnmLnhegnphu, wnhngmn. D. C.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

CARL VILHELM FREYER, OF VALSENBURG, COLORADO.

POTATO-PLANTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 408,097, dated July 30, 1889.

Application filed May l0, 1889. Serial No. 310,223. (No model.)

T0 all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL WILHELM FRET- ER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Valsenburg, in the county of Huerfano and State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Potato-Planter, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in potato planters; and it consists in certain novel features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view looking at the rear end of the machine, with a part of the hopper broken away. Fig. 2 is a central vertical lon gitudinal section, and Fig". 3 is a plan view with the top removed and a part broken away. Fig. et is a detail view, on an enlarged scale, representing the roller with the irregular surface.

In carrying out my invention I employ a tongue or beam A and an axle B, secured to the rear end of the same and having the driving and carrying wheels C mount-ed on its ends. The said tongue, axle, and wheels may be of the usual or any preferred construction, and the drivers seat D is secured on the tongue, as clearly shown. At an intermediate point of the tongue or beam I secure the plow or furrow-opener E, and in the front end of the tongue I mount the vertically-adjustable rotary standard F, carrying the directing roller or caster Gr at its lower end, as clearly shown.

The hopper .II is secured on the axle and is provided with a downwardly and rearwardly inclined bottom, which extends to the rear of the axle. In the rear end of the hopper I form the discharge-opening I, through which the potatoes pass to be planted, and in the bottom of the hoppei and in the same plane with the said opening I provide the longitudinal slot J, to permit the passage of the carrier, hereinafter referred to. On thc upper side of the bottom of the hopper I form the longitudinal groove K, which registers with the opening I and with theslot J, and is covered by a plate L, so that but one potato is allowed to pass along the said groove at a time. In advance of the said groove K the bottom of the hopper is provided with a transverse slot M, in which a roller N, having an irregular surface, is arranged, the said roller ing. i.

having its shaft journaled in the sides of the hopper, and having one end extended beyond the sides of the hopper and provided with a sprocket-pinion O, as shown.

At the' lower rear end of the hopper I mount the transverse shaft P, having a sprocketwheel Q at one end, and provided at about its center with the carrier or picker arm R, which moves through the slot J and the discharge-opening I as the shaft is rotated, and is provided at its end with the teeth or spurs S, adapted to'pieree and secure a potato and carry it from the hopper to be planted. This rotary shaft P is further provided at one side of the picker-arm with a crank-arm T, which plays through the slots U V in the bottom and end of the hopper. This crankarm T acts on a spring discharging-arm WV to remove the potatoes from the picker. The said discharging-arm consists of a spring-rod secured at its upper end to the rear side of a hopper and passing through a keeper X on the hopper down to the rear end of the same, where its extremity is bent laterally, as shown at Y, so as to be brought into proper position to act on the potato on the picker. The discharging-arm is provided above its lower end with an offset Z, which extends across the path of the crank-arm T, and is adapted to be struck by the said crank-arm in the operation of the device.

One of the carrying and driving wheels C has a gear-wheel a secured tothe inner end of its hub, and the said gear-wheel meshes with a similar gear-wheel l), mounted on a stub-shaft c, projecting from the side of the hopper. Asprocket pinion (l is mounted loosely on this stub-shaft c and communicates the motion of the gear-wheel l) to the pinions O Q, through a sprocket-chain e, as shown in The sprocket -pinion d is loosely mounted'on the stub-shaft c, and is provided with an integral half-clutch, which is adapted to engage the gear-wheel l), and is moved along the said stub-shaft by means of a lever g, pivoted in a bracket h, secured to the side of the hopper adjacent to the drivers seat, and havin its lower end engaging the said half-clutch.

In practice when it is desired to plant pototoes by my improved machine the hopper is filled with potatoes and the machine is then drawn over the field. The half-clutch is en- ICO gaged with the gear-wheel h, so that the motion of the carrying-wheels will be transmitted through the gearing described to therroller N and the shaft P. As the machine is drawn along, the furrow-opener or plow turns up the soil, so as to form a furrow therein in which the potatoes may be planted, and the roller N and the shaft P are rotated, so as to plant the potatoes. The potatoes pass down the inclined bottom of the hopper by gravity, and the motion of the rollerN serves to agitate the same and prevent them accumulating and clogging around the end of the groove K, so that the potatoes will be constantly passing through the said groove and yet will be allowed to pass through only one at a time by the construction described. The rotation of the shaft P carries the picker-arm up through the slot J into the groove K, and the teeth S at the end of said arm will pierce the potato and carry the same around through the discharge-opening, as will be readily understood on reference to the drawings. The crank-arm T is arranged so that it travels slightly in rear of the picker, and consequently as the shaft rotates and the said crank-arm is carried around it will Contact with the offsetZ of the spring discharging-rod, so as to throw the said discharging-rod out of the path of the picker, and will hold it in that position until the picker has reached the proper point for the potato to be dropped to the ground, when the crank-arm will clear the offset and the resiliency of the discharging-rod will throw it against the potato with sufficient force to remove it from the picker and allow it to drop to the ground. This operation is completed with each complete revolution of the shaft P.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided a very simple and efficient potato-planter which will be posit-ive in its operation and require comparatively no attention on the part of the driver. Vhen it is desired to move the machine from field to field, the half-clutch is disengaged from the gear-wheel, so that the operating mechanism will not be set in motion.

lhe advantages of my device are thought to be obvious, and a detailed reference thereto is deemed unnecessary.

The peculiar shape of the irregular surface of the roller N contributes to the successful dropping of the potatoes. The surface is made of a series of depressions and bulbousshaped elevations. The potatoes fit in the depressions of the rollers, and are carried around by the same and discharged through the opening I.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with a hopper having a slot J and a discharge-opening I at its rear end, of a rotary shaft mounted in the hopper at the rear end of the same, a picker secured on said shaft and moving through the slot J and discharge-opening I, and mechanism for rotating said shaft, as set forth.

2l The combination of the hopper, the rotary shaft mounted in the hopper, mechanism for rotating said shaft, a picker carried by said shaft and adapted to remove the potatoes from the hopper, a discharging-rod secured on the hopper and adapted to remove the potatoes from the picker, and a crank-arm on the said shaft adapted to actuate the discharging-rod, as set forth.

3. The combination, with a hopper, of the rotary shaft mounted in the hopper, mechanism for rotating said shaft, a picker carried by said shaft and adapted to remove the potatoes from the hopper, a spring dischargingrod secured on the side of the hopper and having its lower end bent toward the picker and adapted to remove the potatoes from the same, the said rod being provided with an offset Z, and the crank-arm on the rotary shaft adapted to act on said offset, as set forth.

4. The combination of the hopper having the longitudinal groove K and the transverse slot M at the front end of the said groove,

the roller arranged in said transverse slot and 1 having an irregular surface, the rotary shaft mounted in the hopper, the pickercarried by said shaft and adapted to enter the groove K an d remove the potatoes from the hopper, and mechanism for rotating the said roller and the shaft, as set forth.

5. The combination of the hopper having the slot J, the discharge-opei'iing I, the groove K, registering with said slot and dischargeopening, and the transverse slot M at the front end of said groove, the plate L, covering the groove K, the roller arranged in the slot M and having' an irregular surface, the rotary shaft mounted on the hopper and carrying a picker adapted to move through the slot J, groove K, and opening I, and 1nechanism for rotating the roller and the said shaft, as set forth.

0. The combination, with the hopper having the longitudinal groove K and the trans- IOO verse slot M at the front end of the said v groove, of the roller arranged in said transverse slot and having an irregular surface composed of an alternate series of depressions and bulbous-shaped elevations, as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CARL IVILHELM FREYER.

Witnesses:

HENRY STUNN, FRED UNFUG. 

